Week 2 of classes began today. Although, week 2 is always more like week 1 because you actually begin learning things. Especially around here. Week 1 in second semester is a week of partying, known around the ANU as "Bush Week." There tend to be separate university run events and then other events put on by the individual colleges (essentially dorms, yet more communal). As I belong to Burgmann College, events were held on each night of the week because we are just that exciting!
Monday night was a "Back to School" themed party in which everyone wore their school uniforms. Unfortunately Monday was one of the worst days of my sickness, so I was practically bedridden. Per the request of many of my friends, I did manage to get up and make an appearance for a short time, probably infecting those around me... oops! Tuesday night was prom! Although it was not your typical prom; it was an 80's themed prom. Out came the poofy sleeves and shoulder pads, people sported their best 80's gear! Wednesday night was a low key movie night, but I went out to the actual movies with friends to see Harry Potter 6. Thursday night was the best night of all. Themed as "Bucks and Hens" this party was a bachelor and bachelorette party for guys and girls. We split up and proceeded to go from pub to pub as one big party! It was a crazy night, as Thursday night is the typical party and clubbing night around here! Luckily, it is the beginning of my weekend, as I have no Friday classes!
I played the rest of the weekend pretty low key. My American buddies and I decided to explore a bit of the city of Canberra, so we walked along Lake Burley Griffen to the National Museum of Australia. The free museum is full of history and culture. It was a great couple of hours. Afterwards, we proceeded by taxi to the Australian War Memorial, as it is quite a site. There is a beautiful memorial set up with names of prisoners of war there and each name is marked out by a red poppy. Really beautiful. The memorial actually consists of a huge war museum commemorating Australian soldier's efforts in WWI, WWII and most of the modern wars. There was a lot to learn: Australia was basically the protection of against the Pacific threats in both of the world wars. Although our own Pearl Harbor was the target of a vicious attack by the Japanese, the very northern city of Darwin in Australia was the target of multiple vicious attacks by the Japanese. Pearl Harbor lasted one day, however, the attacks on Darwin lasted nearly a year. Walking through the museum it was amazing to see how much damage was caused to this country, completely on the account that it was trying to defend America and England in this part of the world. Seeing it from this perspective allowed me to come to the realization that the world wars really were WORLD wars. No one really ever thinks about this part of the world!
Boat used to invade the shores of Turkey in WWI
Incredible diorama of a scene in WWI
Piece of ground artillery used in WWI
Piece of ground artillery used in WWII
As I said earlier, today began the second week of classes. I have my schedule finalized and it is actually pretty great! I have about 14 hours every other week. Only every other week because my 3 hour lab is only every other week! This is such a relief considering I spend 8 hours in lab each week at F&M. On the off weeks I have 11 hours, which is a considerably light schedule, but it will give me plenty of time to explore the city, the campus and maybe even get a job! Each of my classes meets for lecture 2 hours per week and then 1 or 2 hours of tutorials ("tutes"). These are basically discussion sessions for which you must read and contribute.
I am enrolled in 4 classes. On Mondays I have Introduction to Modern and Contemporary Art; the lectures are interesting, but art history readings are incredibly boring... on the bright side, my tutorials are held in the National Gallery of Australia so we will actually be looking at artwork! I am also taking a psychology class called Visual Perception and Cognition. We are working on the perception part right now and will be doing the cognition part later in the semester. This class is probably the easiest class I will ever have for my major, partially because I have a very scientific background in this stuff and also because it is overwhelmingly a psychology class which will skim the in depth scientific stuff. My other two courses are environmental: Contemporary Issues in Asia and Australia and Environment and Development. I'm really excited about these classes, which might actually feed off of each other. It's going to be very interesting to learn about the environment from a different side of the world and a new perspective!
In other news, I've learned how to play the game of Netball, a new phenomenon for all Americans. It is a combination of Ultimate Frisbee and Basketball. It consists of all the rules of Ultimate, but you must shoot the volleyball-like ball into a net. I was going to play on the Burgmann team, but my lack of athletic ability and dislike of basketball has prevented me from joining!
I think that is all I have to update on for now! I hope you've all had an excellent read and waste of time while at work on a Monday morning.
Cheers!
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